


The Chicken Thieves

by Kelaino (Stefanyeah)



Category: The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:15:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26719645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stefanyeah/pseuds/Kelaino
Summary: Thou shalt never steal chickens.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3
Collections: Trick or Treat Exchange 2020





	The Chicken Thieves

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Resilur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resilur/gifts).



> Your description of Link as a genuinely helpful person, but vicious fighter intrigued me. So I grabbed it and ran with it.
> 
> For this, I just pretend that Hyrule has more than one ranch to support the whole country.

„Help!“

Link turned his head towards the cracked voice that came from the direction of the last ranch before Hyrule Castle.

„Listen, we don’t have time for detours.“

Link disagreed with that. They could take a few minutes to help an old lady.

He slowed Epona down and nudged her towards the old woman who stood by her ranch gates. Her head scarf had slid to hang around her neck, revealing grey hair that had been messed up by gnarled fingers.

„Young man!“ she called out as Link stopped next to her. She pointed into the direction of Hyrule Castle Town.„A gang of robbers stole two of my chickens!“

Link nodded and looked towards the deserted town. Those robbers shouldn’t have gone far yet; he would be able to reach them before they reached the town. He assured the old woman, that he would bring her chickens back and spurred on Epona.

Indeed, it didn’t take long until a group of five men became visible. They moved quickly, but as they didn’t own horses, Link and Epona caught up quickly. However, taking five armed men on his own was a bit risky.

Link looked around, grinning when he spotted a small hill ahead. With a shout of encouragement, he spurred on Epona a bit more so he could overtake the group of bandits and reach the hill before them. They shouted after him, but didn’t seem to realise their imminent downfall yet.

Once on the hill, Link dismounted and pulled Zelda’s ocarina from the pouch he kept it in. He put it to his lips and a gentle melody wafted through the air. Before the last note had fallen silent, thick clouds gathered above Hyrule Field. Rain pelted down and thunder cracked.

Link slid down the hill on the wet grass. Just as he stopped before the leader of gang, a lightning strike hit the ruffian and with a most satisfyingly sizzling sound, he dropped to the ground.

The remaining gang stared at Link and their dead leader.

Link pointed at the cage of chickens the man in the middle was holding.

„You’re not getting those,“ the man growled. „Steal your own chickens.“

Link dipped his head and voiced his confirmation, that he very much intended to re-steal those precise chickens.

Laughter greeted his statement until he drew his sword and lifted his shield. He thrust himself forward and against the ruffian in front of him. The man staggered backwards when met by the heavy shield. While he was still falling, Link ran his sword through his throat.

The gurgling noises were drowned out by another thunder cracking above the group.

The remaining three bandits screamed and ran past Link and towards the walls of Hyrule Castle Town.

„The night might help us,“ Navi suggested.

Link nodded and walked back to Epona. He pulled his ocarina from its pouch once more. The soft tones of the Sun’s Song flew through the rain and a moment later, the storm had ceased and night fell upon them.

Link mounted Epona and leisurely trotted after the fleeing bandits. He just had decided to use bow and arrows on them, when some Stalchildren came up from the ground and grabbed the last of the fleeing men.

Link put the arrow back into its quiver and rode around the Stalchildren and the unlucky soul they were just ripping apart. One of the skeleton monsters just held a severed arm up, its teeth chattering with laughter. Blood still dripped from the limb and a sinew dangled down from it.

The detour however, gave the remaining two men enough time to reach the walls of Hyrule Castle Town. They had disappeared just when Link arrived at the bridge. He paused and sighed, dismounting. He better not take Epona into this wretched town. He patted her neck and whispered his promise to be quick into her ear.

Shield and sword raised, Link made his way onto the market. He stopped in the middle of it, trying to make out sounds of someone still alive. There was just silence and that eery red light surrounding them.

„Listen!“ Navi whispered next to his ear.

Link nodded. He had heard the high-pitched scream, too. He looked at the house where he had trapped three ReDeads a few days ago. Carefully, he shifted closer to the door. The scream came again, sending harsh shivers down Link’s spine.

He slowly opened the door and looked inside to see the large, rotten ReDeads clinging onto one of the bandits. The man was waving his arms and hitting at the stinking bodies weighting him down. He was fighting a lost battle, Link knew.

One of the flailing arms hit the head of a ReDead and the monster turned its head to bite into the robbers arm. The man screamed as the monster jerked its head back and pulling a chunk of flesh from the arm.

The robber tumbled and swayed around. He spotted Link in the door and held his blood-dripping arm out. „Help,“ he whimpered.

Link cocked his head. Without giving an answer, he ignited the last bomb he carried and threw it into the room. It blew up with a loud bang only a few seconds after Link had shut the door and jumped out of the way.

The door bursted into splinters and shreds of tissue and flesh, flying across the street.

Link craned his neck to look into the house. It was empty of monsters or robbers.

He turned his head to Navi, wondering if she perceived any traces of the remaining robber. The fairy twirled around Link’s head before taking off into the street that lead towards the castle.

Link followed her into the street and was met with a flurry of white feathers.

That fool must have released the angered chickens from their cage. Of course, the birds had called for reinforcements. Link often wondered where those flocks of random chickens always came from whenever one of them released a distress call.

Link still felt the phantom pain from sharp beaks on his shoulder and arms. Slowly, he retreated and waited for the sounds of fluttering wings and angry chirps to fall silent. Only then did he return into the street.

A pulp in the rough shape of a man lay on the street, three blood-stained chickens sitting on top and clucking.

About an hour later, Link had returned to the farm and accepted the old woman stuffing him with freshly baked goods and farm fruit.

He had carefully cleaned the birds from the blood splatters in the stream and had lured them back into the cage. They had remained docile until they had been returned home and were allowed to roam their chicken coop.

Now, Link had been ushered in front of the fire with a mug of warm milk and the offer of a place to sleep. He had accepted without hesitation and even Navi admitted, that the detour had been worth it in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe not as violent and fierce a fighter as I had first envisioned, but I figure, using his surroundings to efficiently dispose of enemies counts, too. :P
> 
> Those ReDeads were fucking creeping me out when I first encountered them in the game. Of course they had to appear in a Halloween LoZ story.


End file.
